Postings for September 2008

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 30, 2008)

COCKTAILS


Shaun Layton of George Ultra Lounge earned first place at  Giffard’s 2nd annual Iron Mixologist Challenge with a cocktail named “La Belle Poire”.  Wendy McGuinness of Chambar Belgian Restaurant came in a close second place.  David Wolowidnyk of WEST Restaurant and Trevor Kallies of the Granville Room were named runners-up.
 
As a result of their achievement in the Vancouver competition, Shaun and  Wendy  will both be flown to France to represent Canada and compete in Giffard’s International Mixologists Competition in late May 2009 ... CONTINUE READING ....

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP: the Okanagan Wine Festival gets ready for the weekend, the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival announces its participation list for 2009, the Black Box Competion winners, les amis is having a sale, Masa Shiroki releases new sake in time for Sake Day, Bill Jones is cooking with cauliflower fungus and loving it.


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.



WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (Sept 25, 2008)

ADDED: Remember this posting?  Very amusing how the stats on WHOIS.com have risen in the last day or so for inquiries on the registration of www.lotusland.ca.  Oh surely not that name.

Cassandra Anderton has the scoop on Keith Nicholson's new project - Martini Boys  (Sept 25, 2008)

Starbucks claims the oatmeal is the biggest food seller in its history??? - Could have fooled us.  - Reuters (Sept 25, 2008)

Horrors! Food writer gets his pantyhose in a knot when PR chick doesn't know who he is. - Nations Restaurant News (Sept 24, 2008)

We had planned to write about this but Alex Gill beat us to it. The guns aren't so bad, just a soft pop-pop-popping in the background. But those falcons (real or mechanical) can startle the bejeezus out of you. It's like having someone sneak up behind you and scream in your ear. -- Globe and Mail (Sept 24, 2008)

Death to fruit flies! - Re-nest.com.

How peeling a potato can be more exciting than a Japanese game show. - youtube.com.
The egg one is even sillier.

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cretins. Get that gastronomic cultural diversity and superior appreciation of design thing going early:
Foodie Babies Wear Bibs
Baby's First Book of Sushi.
Counting with Wayne Thiebaud




ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 25, 2008)

BEER

Get ready to oom-pah-pah as Ottavio Italian Bakery & Delicatessen celebrates its inner German-ity during Oktoberfest in Oak Bay Village this Saturday. Yes, there will be sausages and sauerkraut (Galloping Goose Sausages), live accordian music (Robert Hildebrandt), a Canadian Mustard tasting and schinkenspeck, a wine tasting (Oak Bay Village Wines), hot pretzels, a beer tasting (Phillips Brewing), wiener schnitzel and all that good stuff.  Not to mention, lots of cute fellows in leather pants. It’s all happening from  11 a.m. till 3 p.m. in the piazza in front of Ottavio and Winchester Galleries at 2272 Oak Bay Ave. For further information please contact Andrew at 250-592-4080. ... CONTINUE READING...

...MORE BEER, WINE, CHEFS, AND EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.





REGIONAL - OKANAGAN - (SEPTEMBER 24, 2008)
THAT SQUASHED SENSATION

You could say that we started our search for the "Great Pumpkin" early this year, as we may have just found our hero's nursery.

The Mariposa Orchards fruit stand meets you at the west entrance to Keremeos with an almost volcanic eruption of baby pumpkins and small colourful winter squash of every shape, colour and size imaginable.  When asked how many varieties the stand sells, the owner just shook his head.  "I couldn't imagine trying to count them" he said. "But there would have to be at least over 30 different kinds."   ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in REGIONAL/Okanagan.




REGIONAL - (September 23, 2008)
VICTORIA NEWS UPDATE

Posted by Shelora Sheldan


Judging from the recent bout of industry changes and closures, it’s been a slow tourist season.  Almost overnight, Cafe Vieux Montreal on Government made their last smoked meat sandwich, while Verjus, who had made a valiant effort in a dismal Oak Bay location followed suit.
 
Sanuk and brewpub Hugo's flanking the Magnolia Hotel & Spa will close at the end of September, to partially make way for the hotel’s spa.

Although, it’s business as usual at Paprika Bistro, owners George and Linda Szasz have put their popular restaurant on the market, citing a desire to spend more time with family and concentrate on their small plates restaurant Stage.

And winemaker and distiller Ken Winchester, responsible for the increasingly popular Victoria Gin, is no longer part of the business. ...CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in REGIONAL/Victoria.



IDEAS WORTH STEALING - (September 22, 2008)
VEGETABLES ON A FENCE

Seems like everything is riffing on the US political scene these days, even party food. Although we thought this "press conference" interpretation was a novel way of pinning down the candidates.

Called "Tomatoes, Turnips and Carrots on the Fence" it was Chef Dan Barber (Blue Hill at Stone Barns, NY) update on the classic veggies and dip, and consisted of heirloom cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and  turnips impaled on ordinary, 3-inch construction nails embedded into a plywood block. (Watch those fingers!)

The photos appeared in a New York Times Sunday Magazine feature on the wedding of the Stone Barn's livestock manager Craig Haney to the PR director of the New York Greenmarket, Gabrielle Langholtz. (Ms Langholtz, by the way, is the editor of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, two city editions of the US-based magazine chain that also recently opened a franchise in Vancouver.)


Filed in MEDIA/Food Style



CATCHING UP WITH - TRAFALGAR’S BISTRO
(September 22, 2008)

As Kermit proves: you can be small and still be green. Trafalgar's getting with the program via a new Oceanwise approved menu, a rooftop organic garden, eco-safe takeout cutlery, and a new website that will blog on the restaurant green scene.


Trafalgar’s Bistro in the heart of Vancouver’s Westside, has been keeping their lines in the water. Recently they made a commitment to serving only Oceanwise approved seafood choices on their menu, and as an introduction they have designed a flexible prix fixe menu for customers to pick and choose their own three-course meal for a budget price of $42.  (See details here.)  For shoppers looking for a lunch or dinner stop after emptying out their wallets at the new Meinhardt's store neaby, it's a good option. 

But a concern for sustainable seafood isn’t the only way that Chef Chris Moran has been maintaining the restaurant a "green"conscience. ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in RESTAURANTS/Restaurant Updates.



WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (September 20, 2008)

Why the press thinks food travels 1,500 miles - Slate - (Sept 17, 2008)
Sushi chefs are becoming eco-responsible - Gourmet - (Sept 16, 2008)
Making money selling New York tap water - Tap'dNY - (Sept, 2008)
Get your dog to blend you a cocktail: he just has to growl at it - MIT (2004)
Toronto caterer recreates death row "last suppers" - Blog T0 (Sept 18, 2008)
Every "Freakin'" Day with Rachel Ray - Amazon
Handy: How to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew - Wired
Keep your room mate out of your shelf space with this modular fridge - Unplggd
Canadian baseball player's face on new wine bottles - St. Catherines Standard - (Sept 19, 2008)
Heston Bluementhal's Chocolate Wine - Times Online (April 2008)

And this from Martha Stewart's blog ...

"Richard Gere, the actor, and his business partner, Russell Hernandez, purchased an 18th-century house and barn on 14 acres in Bedford, New York. Their plan is to keep the historic integrity and to transform it into an eight-suite luxury inn along with a restaurant featuring a farm-to-table dinner menu".




COMMENT PAGE - (September 19, 2008)
CANADIAN CHEFS SORT OF TAKE MANHATTAN: OR WHY ONE SHOULDN'T ALWAYS BELIEVE ONE'S OWN PR

Daniel Boulud is doing what he can to introduce the Vancouver restaurant scene to the right people; we just have to give them a better reason to care.


After much ballyhoo reporting in the local media on the topic of  Daniel Boulud’s invitation to the Vancouver tag team of Vikram Vij, Tojo-san, Pino Posteraro, and Thomas Haas to cater a luncheon for the New York press at the re-opening of his newly refurnished Restaurant Daniel, we decided to check around and see what the verdict was.  (On the impact made by the Vancouver chefs, not the restaurant.)

Yet after Googling, Yahooing and Chroming all over the Internet (plus a few phone calls), we failed to find any mention of it by the New Yorkers.  All the headlines honking “Canadians Strut Their Stuff!”, "Taking the Big Apple by Storm", and the even more embarrassing, “Canadians Take Manhattan” had actually been penned by Canadian journalists -- more specifically, journalists that Boulud’s Vancouver business partner David Sidoo had expressly purchased, we mean portaged, along for the occasion.

Not that the event itself didn’t show up in the more conservative areas of the  blogosphere. There was plenty of discussion, opinions, slideshows, etc., about the restaurant’s renovations and new décor, including repeated references to the fact that Boulud had covered the formerly gilded ceiling of the dining room with a fresh coat of flat latex white.

Which begs the classic question: Is eating the cooking of Vancouver’s best chefs really less interesting than watching paint dry?   ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Comments and Letters.



ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 18, 2008)


FACTOIDS

Over 8,000 pounds of fresh sardines were sold during this year's 1st annual Wild BC Seafood Festival in Steveston on September 1st.  Many of them were served up in Le Gavroche Restaurant's Manuel Ferreira's  dish of  "Wild BC Sardines with Fennel Orange Salad". Crave more sardines? Find them here.
 

BOOKS

Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks is holding its annual book sale today (Thursday, September 18th) until Monday, September 22nd. All books and tools in the shop will be 20% off, unless otherwise marked. Their selection of greeting cards will be 50% off....CONTINUE READING...

...MORE BOOK AND EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.




WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (September 17, 2008)

A charcuterie tile floor made from cold cuts? - Serious Eats (Sept 15, 2008)
The Case of the Gucci Blouse Scam - Eater.com (Sept 15, 2008)
Walla Walla's Best Wine Store - Slashfood.com (Sept 17, 2008)
Swallow Magazine Promises to be Dirtier Than Most - New York Magazine (Sept 16, 2008)
Boulud to open the 'Greatest Diner Ever' - New York Post (Sept 17, 2008)
Glamping in the Clayoquot gets a plug in the New York Times - New York Times (Sept 15, 2008)
Are your organic veggies addicted to heavy metal? - National Post - (Sept 17, 2008)
Daniel, Vij, Pino and Tojo are all now good drinking buddies - Globe and Mail - (Sept 15, 2008)
Heat's on Disposable Cups - The Province (September 16, 2008)
Local Farmers Markets are Growing Strong - The Province (September 16, 2008)




FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF 'WHY ARE WE NOT DOING THIS'? - (September 17, 2008)
ONTARIO PROMOTES THE GREENBELT

The Provincial Government of Ontario has dropped a mega budget into the buckets of the Greenbelt Farmers Markets Organization, a group that works to promote and protect the small farms within an agricultural area of the Niagara that in importance to the local food supply would be roughly the equivalent of B.C.’s Fraser Valley.  One of the ways they have invested these funds is to create a public awareness/agritourism promotional website of www.greenbeltfresh.ca which allows consumers to locate their nearest farmers market by entering their postal codes into a search engine. Other features include interviews with local farmers and recipes made from local produce.

But even more interesting is the companion website of the Greenbelt itself. Called www.ourgreenbelt.ca, it lists the grants and subsidies that are available to eco-agro initiatives, as well as those which have already been granted.

Meanwhile, here in B.C., its been left up to consumers to fight to preserve UBC Farm and other lands within the agricultural reserves that are threatened by urban expansion and development.

Another thought -- If we had such an open accounting of “green” grants, we think it might be a good idea if all corporate enterprises attempting to hitchhike their marketing pitches atop the integrity and popularity of the local green movements (such as a recent competition for Kraft salad dressings which recently came through Vancouver) were required to at least match the public funds which are actually supporting the evolution, and make a public statement on such. 


Filed in FOOD/Farmers Markets




ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 17, 2008)


COCKTAILS

"Smooth as a Savile Row suit", says Food and Wine Magazine of Martin Miller's London Dry Gin, of this new gin that has just made it on to specialty listings in BC. Yet considering the cocktails on the gin's website (with such names as "Monkey Glands" and "Corpse Reviver"), we gather that the British Import is not just for the buttoned down set.

Claimed to be made by "obsessive" gin makers in England’s Black Country, in a traditional, 100-year-old copper pot still, named "Angela", the spirit is distilled from over eight botanicals including: juniper, orange peel, coriander, liquorice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and angelica. Apparently the water comes from Icelandic glaciers, which accounts for the map of the north Atlantic on the back of the bottle.

Imported by Whitefish Beverage Agency and priced at  $39.99/750 mL ... CONTINUE READING...

...MORE RESTAURANT, BOOK, AND EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.





RESTAURANT PREVIEWS - (September 16, 2008)
MORE ADVANCE NEWS ON CAMPAGNOLO
(Edited from the press release.)
 
Affordable, casual Italian dining in a warm and welcoming space. Campagnolo will serve rustic dishes inspired by the Piedmont and Emiglia-Romagna regions of Italy in an open, spacious room highlighted by original old growth fir wood beams. Owners  Tom Doughty, Robert Belcham and Tim Pittman of  Fuel Restaurant will create a pleasurable and entertaining dining experience for guests.
 
Guests can choose between the 65-seat open dining room and a 25-seat wine bar tucked in the back ...CONTINUE READING...

Filed in RESTAURANTS/Previews.




CityFood's annual Search for the Great Pumpkin begins on October 1st.

So if you think the big fella is going to show up at your farmgate, restaurant, bakery, food store, kitchen store, cocktail bar, brewery or winery (yes, we've even sampled a pumpkin wine once), then send the details to [contact (at) cityfood (dot) com] and we'll post them in a special "Pumpkin Watch" special section here.  Or better yet, send a photo.  And may the squash be with you!




ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 16, 2008)


RESTAURANTS

Summer may be coming to a close, however C restaurant (1600 Howe Street) will not be ending their summer luncheon deals just yet. Usually a seasonal feature, C will continue lunch service Monday through Friday until further notice.  And another bonus – all dinner menu items will continue to be priced at 50% off during the lunch hour. For those with limited time, the 4-course business lunch remains a favourite. For more information or to make your reservation, call C Restaurant at (604) 681-1164 or visit www.crestaurant.com.

The months of October and November are the highlight of the mushroom season, and Parkside's 3rd Annual Game and Wild Mushroom Festival (starting October 15th) offers a unique opportunity to experience local chanterelle, bluefoot, trumpet, and pine mushrooms, and to enjoy them with the rich flavours that chef Andrey Durbach is known for.  ... CONTINUE READING...

...MORE RESTAURANT, WINE, AND EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.



REGIONAL - OKANAGAN - (September 15, 2008)
FORECAST LOOKS JUICY FOR GRAPES AND FESTIVAL

Judging from advance ticket sales, organizers of the 2008 Okanagan Fall Wine Festival (which runs from October 2nd to October 12th), are optimistic that the festival will once again set attendance and revenue records. This year boasts a record number of wineries participating in over 160 events.

The fall’s future weather forecast also has the winemakers in a sunnier mood than they were just two weeks ago, with most expecting a splendid, if somewhat later harvest, that will be in full swing just in time for the wine festival.”Okanagan ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in REGIONAL/Okanagan.




WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (September 15, 2008)


There’s plenty of good beef in the September ’08 issue of Esquire, and we don’t mean the cover feature on hunky footballer Tom Brady.

Starting on Page 186, the glossy men’s mag runs a twenty page tribute to the almighty steak, including essays on the steak as American icon and masculine rite of passage, the facts about Wagyu, the globalization of steak, barbecued steak Australian style, the trendy return of the neighbourhood butcher, a list of the 20 best steakhouses in the USA, plus purchasing, cooking and serving tips, as well as recipes along the likes of “Butter Poached Bone-In Top Loin with Truffled Macaroni and Cheese".

You can feel your arteries hardening just reading this stuff.  It could also trigger an impossible itch for American prime, which isn’t soothed by reading John Mariani’s  intro paragraph: 

“…This may be  the last article worth reading about American steak. Great beef will soon be so expensive and so difficult to obtain that the dishes on this list will be available to even fewer people than they already are. ….Ten years ago, corn sold for an average of about two dollars a bushel; right now, it’s above seven dollars – a huge jump when you consider farm subsidies – and seven pounds are required to produce a pound of beef. So if you’re paying $45 US dollars for a prime strip at your favorite steakhouse now, next year it will coast you $60.  And that’s assuming the ever-multiplying deluxe steakhouse chains can even get enough prime. Don’t bank on it. …”

Ah well, chalk it up as yet another of the items Esquire constantly feature which are beyond the reach of 99 percent of its male readership, such as the three or four articles which are regularly devoted to goddesses in their underwear.

While you are riffing through the pages at the 7-11, be sure to check out the portrait of Chef Marco Pierre White, hurling chef knives and other kitchen utensils at another long-suffering babe. His reservations hostess, perhaps?


Filed in MEDIA/In Print




WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (September 12, 2008)
MONEY TALKS

After a summer of hearing tales about David Sidoo whisking his new best friends (local media types) to New York on his private plane, now from the Vancouver Sun comes an outright admission of wheel greasing (Didn’t the Sun use to have a policy against accepting such freebies?)

It’s all just expensive PR of course, a really grand scale version of a restaurant preview for the press. Except that in this case, there is no restaurant yet to review, and after feeding at this golden trough, will any of these “influential” people feel able to say they DON'T like the Boulud/Sidoo restaurant in Vancouver when it opens this fall? Oh, well, slap our hands for suggesting such things ... obviously they are all discerning, experienced food reviewers with high journalistic ethics, but of course. Funny thing though, all the people whose opinions we would really respect about such matters just happen to be still in town.

“…He was there, as was I, as part of a consortium of chefs, foodies and media folks heading to New York for a whirlwind two days of wining and dining, and not a little cooking, courtesy of Lumiere owners David and Manjy Sidoo who recently partnered with renowned New York chef/restaurateur Daniel Boulud in our city’s famed Lumiere restaurant, and the soon-to-be-debuted adjoining DB Bistro Moderne….”

"...When you arrive, your room, unaccountably and surprisingly, is huge, a suite really, with living room, kitchenette, an enormous bedroom and four walk-in closets…."

"...This I know because the French-born Boulud has been feeding me since my arrival in New York late Wednesday, along with a group of about 15 other Vancouverites, including Chris Gailus of Global TV, as well as writers from TV Week and several Vancouver magazines…."

Any members of the Vancouver Magazine Awards judging team on this ticket, do you suppose?


But it seems everyone is fascinated with Daniel Boulud these days ..Even the American political blogs are adding food content.  The Huffington Post interviews Daniel Boulud.


Filed in MEDIA/In Print.





ANNOUNCEMENTS  - (September 11, 2008)


RESTAURANTS


Brrr... had to go put a sweater on after reading this one …. We quote from Metro’s chllly press release directly …

"With the resignation of Brian Fowke as Chef and Director, Metro Restaurant’s new management team, lead by Chas Woodyer, Managing Director; will be able to develop Metro Restaurant to its greatest potential.??

The controlling shareholders of Burrard Holding Company, Metro’s parent company, fully supports these changes and will now provide direct support to the new Metro management as it implements the  new development plan. ??Burrard Holding Company will continue to assess the viability of its other restaurant, Rare and it will continue to investigate the potential for other restaurant development in Vancouver.


Gusto di Quattro in North Vancouver has a new executive chef in Nik Lim.  In owner Patrick Corsi's words:  “[Lim] has the heart and soul of an Italian. He fits right in with the Quattro family.”

Before joining the Quattro Restaurants group as sous chef at Gusto in 2007, Lim worked for several years at as the executive sous chef the Hart House on Deer Lake with Gusto’s former executive chef, Carol Chow. ... CONTINUE READING...

... MORE RESTAURANT, WINE AND CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.






Why magazine freelancers love their publishers ....



















PAY THE WRITER!

DINE AND DASH - (September 10, 2008)

Checking over yesterday's posting we realized we'd created the wrong website link for R.TL (see below). Making the correction led to new information:

1) the framework of a resto blog that refers to an owner with connections to Dubai; a question (good one) "How do you get a landlord to pick your restaurant over a Starbucks"; and 165 responses from automated spam engines.
2) and on the home page, an insignia for an R.TL Magazine.  Presumably this is so they may print their own story.

Let's just say a work in progress .... (more on this later.)

Oh yes, also forgot to mention yesterday that all the desserts for R.TL will be supplied by Yaletown's Chocolatl.



Every food writer's quandary ... sometimes in our research we come across a discovery we'd rather selfishly keep to ourselves. But then we think about duty, obligation to our readers, yada, yada, and well, here's today's reluctant posting ...

Just wait until the coffee addicts lining up at the 858 Beatty Street Starbucks find out there is a much better option just around the corner and up one block at Smithe and Cambie. What used to be a little homespun effort called the Edge Cafe is now the third installation of Cafe de France (the original is on Mainland street in Yaletown, the second on Hornby and Nelson St.).

Why is it better than Starbucks? Let us count the ways: less crowded, less noise, free newspapers and wireless internet, more comfortable seating, fresh sandwiches served on French baguettes, coffee for on-site drinking served in thick china cups. All that, and less expensive too. And did we mention the pastries? No plastic Starbucks fare here. The baked goods come from the company's own affiliate of Boulangerie la Parisienne. 

Most of all, we appreciate the two darling Japanese girls who manage to complete your coffee order without barking out your personal java peculiarities for the world to hear.

Yep, tomorrow morning we may hate ourselves.


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Dine and Dash.

WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (September 10, 2008)

CityFood is quoted in New York Magazine ...

JGV TAKES CANADA
Jean-Georges Vongerichten will open a restaurant, Market, early next year in the Shangri-La Hotel, but with JGV spread so thin, at least one local critic is adopting a wait-and-see attitude: "The value added of a Culinary Concept restaurant in our city shouldn't necessarily be taken as a given." [City Food] ...

Women Rule the Kitchen at Vij's - Vancouver Sun (September 10, 2008)
Crackdown on Wineries Ends Sales Out of Provence - Vancouver Sun (Sept 10, 2008)
Janet Jackson's Best Memory of Vancouver is Starbucks - the Provence (Sept 10, 2008)
No hatchet job here: Alexandra Gill loves the Tomahawk's burger - Globe & Mail (Sept 10, 2008)
Have you been misled by the Nun in Blue?  - Globe & Mail (Sept 10, 2008)
Bottled Water on a Slippery Slope - Financial Post (Sept 10, 2008)
A finger lickin' good PR job - Daily News (Sept 10, 2008)
The New York Times Food Section in 60 Seconds - SlashFood (Sept 10, 2008)
Argh, More Rachel Ray: Hearst to Publish Food Network Magazine - Hearst News (Sept 8, 2008)
Marco Pierre White's New Life as a Working Mum - Telegraph (Sept 5, 2008)




RESTAURANT PREVIEWS - (September 9, 2008)
MARKET -  JEAN-GEORGES CONFIRMED FOR SHANGRI-LA

By tomorrow all of Canada will be aware that Vancouver's Shangri-la Hotel has cemented its long drawn out negotiations with Culinary Concepts of New York, and that Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten will indeed be operating a restaurant (to be called Market) in Vancouver. The official PR notice went out to all local media this morning, and the national press will be notified this evening.

For a city with an insatiable need for acknowledgment as a "world class" dining destination, we agree that the marriage is a juicy validation. However, we're not going to hyperventilate over the news just yet. ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in RESTAURANTS/Previews.




OPENING SOON - (September 9, 2008)
MORE NEWS ON R.TL

Perhaps of more immediate interest is what the home team is currently up to.

We ran into Alain Canuel today at the International Cellars portfolio tasting, and he said (with fingers crossed), that the new Yaletown restaurant R.TL should be open on October 1st.

Canuel, who was formerly the sommelier for Figmint, and before that, Araxi,  is now the operations manager for R.TL. He describes the new restaurant as ...CONTINUE READING...

Filed in RESTAURANTS/Previews.



WHAT WE'RE READING NOW
(September 6, 2008)



Foods of the World: National Geographic's new online food site - National Geographic
Food magazine typo poisons Sweden - ABC News (Sept 3, 2008)
Culinary Institute trains the next generation of food bloggers - New York Mag (Sept 4, 2008)
Owning a winery, is it sexy, or just farming? - Globe and Mail (Sept 5, 2008)
Restaurant shirts are the new concert Tee - Serious Eats (Sept 5, 2008)
What's in a name? Too much, in the case of Golden Mile - Vancouver Sun (Sept 6, 2008)
Residents start campaign to save Farmers Market - Calgary Herald (Sept 6, 2008)
Madeline's: Susur Lee's new restaurant in Toronto - New York Times (Sept 7, 2008)
There are no eating disorders at Fashion Week - New York Magazine (Sept 6, 2008)
The Foreseeable Future of Dining - New York Magazine (Sept 6, 2008)
Defining a "Foodie" - Chowhound (Sept 6, 2008)




REGIONAL/ OKANAGAN - (September 5, 2008)
ROOTIN', TOOTIN' AND FRUITIN' ON THE 1 97

That familiar symbol of the Okanagan, the roadside fruit stand, is another relic of times that are a’ changing in the valley. Although they are dotted like windfall apples all along the highway from Vernon to Cawston, they can vary quite a bit in quality and purpose.

You can still find some operated by family farms, and often these belong to the large Indo-Canadian owned farms who conscript a family member to man the cash register (often a kindly grandmother, shy teenager or some other youngster who seems barely big enough to peep into the cash drawer). Then there is the larger commercial variety of fruit stand – the ones selling maple syrup and condiments made in the USA, along with equally well-travelled produce. Lastly, and hardest to find, I classify as the eccentrics. These ones are usually stocked according to the whims and fancies of the owner, and their operating hours can be just as unpredictable. ... CONTINUE READING...

Filed in REGIONAL/Okanagan.



ANNOUNCEMENTS - (September 4, 2008)

OKANAGAN/WINE
Golden Mile Becomes Road 13

Pam and Mick Luckhurst have changed the name of their winery from Golden Mile Cellars to Road 13 Vineyards after the winery's location (along Highway 97, between Fairview and Road 18), in an area that was first cultivated for agriculture in the early 1920s, when BC premier ?Honest? John Oliver turned the area into rich farmland by constructing an irrigation canal from Okanagan Falls.

The Luckhursts say the name change was needed to highlight a new direction for the winery, one that puts the emphasis on terroir-driven wines, and also allows "Golden Mile" to return to the general domain as a geographic indicator for the area along Highway 97, south of Oliver and north of Osoyoos. Freeing the term from its association with one winery will allow it to be used to market the area as a distinct wine growing region (in much the same way that the wineries of the Naramata Bench have forged their own identification within the Okanagan Valley). As Mick Luckhurst likes to put it in his favourite expression "It's all about the dirt." ... CONTINUE READING ....


MORE RESTAURANT AND EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP ...

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.




REGIONAL - OKANAGAN - (September 4, 2008)
LATE SUMMER HARVEST REPORT - AND THE REAL SECRET OF NOTA BENE?

2008 is turning out to be a tricky year for the Okanagan, weather-wise, that is. Summer arrived late and August was far cooler and wetter than normal, resulting in a grape harvest that is approximately two weeks behind schedule.

This is making many winemakers, especially those located north of Vaseux Lake who are hoping to produce fruity, full-bodied red varietals, a tad nervous, if not yet giving them a full blown case of anxiety. (Hello Naramata.)

Optimism abounds. All that is needed to save the situation is a long, hot September, and it’s happened many times before. Although it’s not the heat that is the issue, so much as the amount of sunlight in the day that the plants’ ripening cycle responds to. And as we all know, the days are quickly shortening. Every day we pass vineyards hanging grapes that should be inky dark by now and yet are still barely turning colour, even though their leaves are showing advance patches of autumn’s reds and yellows. ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in REGIONAL/Okanagan.





TRENDS AND ISSUES - WINE - (September 3, 2008)
HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY WINE BOTTLE

Chile’s Santa Rita is the latest winery to jump on the eco bandwagon now that it has begun to use lighter glass bottles for its ‘120’ range of wines.

Their declared reason, of course, is to reduce their carbon footprint and excess garbage landfill (according to their pr release stats, glass bottles comprise almost 40% of all beverage packaging waste generated by the average household). However, the more compelling motivation for the winery is likely to be the fact that increases in the cost of energy have considerably raised the price of glass, not to mention the transport costs for bottles that are exported to international markets. ... CONTINUE READING...

Filed in FOOD/Trends and Issues.




NEWSLETTERS WE LIKE - (September 3, 2008)
DOUGH THAT SIZZLES

The CityFood mailbag receives a LOT of breathless newsletters from commercial manufacturers touting their latest products ... and most of them disappear into the X files. However, we admit to looking forward to this rather homespun version from Barbecues Galore and Woods Fireplaces (operating out of Calgary). Always plenty of humour, interesting points of view, good grilling tips, and often some smokin' recipes too.

Their latest missive features techniques for baking bread on the barbecue ... both regular sourdough and foccacia. ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in MEDIA/Online.



DINE AND DASH - (September 2, 2008)
REGALADE HAS AN ASIAN TWIN. WHO KNEW?

We had no idea that West Vancouver's La Regalade had a sister restaurant in Malaysia, but according to this website, they do. (Lead from Cate Simpson.) (Photo of restaurant from Restaurant-Dining Critiques.)

Luck Sarabhayavanija has said farewell to OThai restaurant, citing a disagreement with investors who want to take the Kitsilano restaurant in “a different direction”. Apparently they feel Vancouver doesn’t need another Thai restaurant, and have a family/west coast casual theme in mind. (Well, we certainly do not have enough of those, do we?) We wish both Luck and his wife Anne much good fortune in any future endeavor they chose to undertake. Life keeps moving forward….the couple recently celebrated the addition of a third child to their family.

Will there be Cossack dancing? Red X Red the new Tapas Lounge and Vodka Bar on Granville Street will be holding their grand opening on Thursday, September 4th. See the details on the restaurant here.


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Dine and Dash ... RESTAURANTS/Staff Changes ...




Ah ... we wondered when someone would do an upscale job on pierogies ...

RESTAURANT PREVIEW - (September 1, 2008)
RED X RED TAPAS LOUNGE - a preview
(Directly from the press release.)

RED X RED Tapas Lounge (or "RED² Tapas Lounge" as it is affectionately called), located at 1216 Granville St, is now open. Featuring Eastern-European influenced share plates with a focus on quality, regional ingredients, excellent, friendly service, and a sleek room with an industrial funky feel. RED² also boasts Vancouver’s largest selection of Vodkas (80) and a unique Russian-themed Vodka cocktails and martinis. ...CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in RESTAURANTS/Previews.




Editor's Note: With this latest win, Mission Hill puts another international feather in its cap. Appropriate, because Mission Hill is one BC winery that has not just been preaching to the local choir. They may be one of the few who have the means to do so, but they have shown a fair amount of initiative in spreading the word to the US market by flying in groups of sommeliers from New York restaurants for extended tours of the Okanagan Valley all summer long. Luckily for them, they also have enough product to do the follow through should some of them start placing orders.

WINE NEWS- (September 2, 2008)
MISSION HILL SCORES WITH ICEWINE
(Shortened from the AP press report.)

Mission Hill Family Estate has won the International Wine Challenge (IWC) Trophy for the "World's Top Icewine" at Europe's major wine competition. The Trophy will be presented to Mission Hill proprietor Anthony von Mandl at a black tie awards banquet in London in front of 800 members of the UK and international wine trade this Wednesday for the Mission Hill Family Estate 2006 Reserve Riesling Icewine. In the past eight years only three Icewines have been successful in achieving this award. This will be the first category Trophy awarded in the past four years with competing wines judged from five countries. ... CONTINUE READING.


Filed in DRINK/wine news ... and REGIONAL/Okanagan.